


Sometimes Breaking all the Rules is Necessary - and Sometimes it's Just Fun

by jacquelee



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Community: 1_million_words, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-27 00:23:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13869123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacquelee/pseuds/jacquelee
Summary: Marshal Ava Sharpe is faced with the decision to either follow the rules or to break them all to protect a little girl and maybe find what she has always been looking for in the process.Witness protection AU





	Sometimes Breaking all the Rules is Necessary - and Sometimes it's Just Fun

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a weekend challenge at [1 million words](http://1-million-words.livejournal.com) for the prompt "witness protection AU".
> 
> My knowledge of the US Marshal Service comes solely from movies and TV shows, so I am 100% sure that this portrayal is not accurate.

"You really want to do this?" 

"What? Go against everything I ever believed in and betray the organization I have dedicated the last five years of my life to? No, Gary, I don't want to do this. But there is no other way." 

Ava sighed, a little breathless after this outburst. Ever since Rip had been sent to prison and it had become clearer and clearer that whoever was pulling the strings behind the threats they were facing was far more powerful and had more allies even within the Marshal Service than they had originally thought, she had no idea what to do and whom to rely on anymore. 

But the one thing she did know was that she needed to make sure the trial against Damien Darhk went off without a hitch. That she needed to protect his daughter, the prime witness against him.

And that five agents had already died trying to do just that, nearly losing Nora in the process. Only the quick reaction of one of the agents had saved the girl, but now that they knew without a doubt that there was more than one traitor in their midst, Ava knew Nora would not be safe with them. Not right now. Not anymore.

As much as it pained her to admit it, but the Legends were her only option. Again. And even though they had parted on better terms than usual the last time they had to work together, they were still far from actually trusting each other on a professional level. Their methods were still completely unsanctioned and most of the time against all rules. 

They were bounty hunters for god's sake. Some of the best ones in the business at that, evident in the fact that they were calling themselves Legends. Just because Sara Lance had a complicated history with the former Director of the Marshal Service, didn't mean she wasn't the head of an irresponsible group primarily made up of criminals and wash outs. 

But now that everything was crumbling all around her, Ava had no one else to turn to. Director Bennett, who had replaced Director Hunter, still didn't believe that they were even facing a threat beyond just Damien Darhk and was convinced that conventional methods would be enough to ensure the safety of Darhk's daughter. 

Truth be told, at this point, Ava wasn't sure about anyone's loyalties, not even Director Bennett's. It was becoming more and more clear that nobody in the Marshal Service could be trusted. And as much as she didn't trust the Legends to solve even one case in a manner that would be approved by the Marshal Service's rule book, now that she knew them better on a personal level, she did trust that they were always trying to protect people. 

At least Sara was and her team generally followed her lead, even though more often than not that lead guided them to an unnecessarily violent and messy way of doing things. But still an effective way, more often than not, as Ava had to grudgingly admit. She had always thought rules and regulations were everything, that if one followed every single rule everything would turn out right, but now she wasn't sure anymore.

Suddenly, and completely unbidden, the image of herself coming undone under the hands of the person who seemed so fundamentally opposite of herself in a professional sense but was so similar on a personal level flashed before her eyes.

That memory was still so fresh in her head that it always popped up at random moments, reminding her that she had already broken the rules. That she was guilty of fraternizing at work. Repeatedly. That should make her feel awful, like a failure, but the only thing it did was wake up the voice inside her that screamed to do it again, to just throw her own rulebook out of the window and run into the arms of the one person who so unexpectedly had become someone she relied on. Possibly the only person she could rely on anymore. And, even more surprisingly someone whose company she enjoyed, in more than one sense. 

She bit her lower lip and told herself to concentrate on the task at hand. Gary was still looking at her with those puppy dog eyes of his, waiting for her to make a move. She didn't really know why she even trusted him as much as she did, but part of her knew that of all Deputy Marshals in her office, Gary was the one who was least likely to be a spy for Damien Darhk and the mysterious big bad in the shadows, if only just because of his general incompetence. 

Which also made having to work with him a pain in the ass most of the times, but whatever, she needed him. For now. 

"Are you alright? You seemed to zone out there for a moment." 

"No, I'm fine. Just get me a car and plan a safe route to the location I told you." She checked her watch. Good, she still had some time before the meeting with Sara. "I need to go get the girl. After I'm gone, I need you to go somewhere safe, do you understand? Don't go home and don't come back here until you heard from me." 

Gary nodded, positively terrified now. But that was something Ava couldn't concern herself with at this moment. She had bigger things to worry about. Like how to get Nora Darhk to the Legends in one piece. 

In the end, it was easier than she had expected, since her authority was still unquestioned. She got the girl and drove them to the harbor, expecting a sniper or an ambush at every turn but luckily nothing happened. Hopefully, she had succeeded in being fast enough and quiet enough to actually pull this off.

When she finally arrived at the place Sara had given her, in a code they were always changing, in case the line they were using was not secure, which was more than likely right now, Ava sighed deeply. A quick check of the terrain told her that the place seemed to be secure enough, even though it was pretty dark. She could see the Waverider in the distance. Telling Nora to stay in the car for now, she walked closer to the ship, just to be stopped by a familiar voice, warmer than it had been on other occasions and with a little smirk that was for some reason audible.

"Marshal Sharpe. What can we do for you today?" 

Squinting in the dark, Ava could see Sara, clad in all black leather, as always seemingly just appearing out of nowhere, standing a little away from her ship, hands on her hips, the obvious smirk on her face. She was soon flanked by her entire team, all of them now moving around her in a sort of protective half circle with Mick and Ray on the far right and far left and Amaya and Zari in the middle. Ava frowned at this clear show of what Sara expected this meeting to be. 

Okay, if this was how she wanted to play it. Ava sighed, trying to suppress all the unprofessional thoughts that had popped into her head when she saw Sara and heard her voice. She had been the one who had told Sara that this was about business, so she needed to get it together and act like it. 

"I need your help." 

Sara raised her eyebrows and tilted her head to the side. 

"Okay. Help with what?" 

"I need to show you." She walked back to the car and opened the passenger door. "You can come out, it's okay. You're safe here." 

After waiting until Nora got out of the car, she walked towards the Legends together with the girl. When they got far enough to be plainly visible, she could see the surprise on all of their faces. This was clearly not what they had expected. And then she also saw the recognition, with Zari being the first who voiced it.

"Is that Nora Darhk?" 

Everything seemed to freeze for a moment and Ava couldn't look anywhere but at Sara's face. The pain and disappointment in it was so plain, it was hard to believe that this woman had been a professional assassin at some point in time. 

"What the hell, Ava?" 

She tried to ignore how hurt Sara sounded, but it cut through her like a knife. For a moment, she closed her eyes, but she knew she needed to get through to Sara, needed her to understand.

"I," She put her arm around Nora's shoulders, "we have no one else to turn to. This is the only safe place left. Please, just hear me out." 

Ava knew she was unfair, that she didn't leave Sara with much of a choice, bringing a little girl here at night. This little girl. But she was also honest, she truly had nowhere else to go. And Nora was all that mattered right now. She needed to be safe and on the Waverider with the Legends was the one place where that could be guaranteed. 

She knew Sara enough to know that she wouldn't leave her in the cold. Not like this. Not with a little girl's life at stake. Even if that girl was the daughter of the man who had killed her sister. 

But after the silence grew longer, she started to think she might had been wrong. Maybe she didn't know Sara as well as she had thought. Just as she resigned herself to have to leave, to have to come up with some other plan, even though she had absolutely no idea how, Sara sighed and clearly entered captain-mode.

"Zari, prepare the Waverider for take off, I want to leave as soon as possible. Ray, Mick, patrol around the harbor, I want to know about every movement. Amaya, take the girl to the galley and get her something to eat. I need to speak to Marshal Sharpe in private." 

One thing Ava had always admired about the Legends was how well they were able to follow orders when they wanted to and how well they worked together. Everyone went to carry out their Captain's orders immediately, without even so much as an acknowledgement.

Ava's arm was still resting on Nora's shoulders when Amaya came up to them, smiling at the girl, crouching a bit to be at the same level. 

"Hi, I'm Amaya. How about we go get you something to eat? Have you ever been on a ship?" Nora shook her head. "Well, then, you are in for a treat. Come on." 

Looking at Ava questioningly, and only moving after she took her arm away, nodded and smiled at her encouragingly, Nora followed Amaya onto the Waverider. Everyone else was already gone, carrying out their various tasks, which only left Ava and Sara. 

Biting her lip again, Ava had no idea what to say, but she didn't need to say anything, as Sara abruptly turned around and boarded her ship, not even checking if Ava was following her. Of course she didn't check. She didn't have to. 

Entering the command center of the ship, Ava was as always a little taken aback that it was just an open space without doors, but Sara's crew clearly knew better than to disturb them, so she put it out of her mind and turned to Sara, who was looking at one of the consoles, with her back towards Ava.

After a few seconds, she started speaking quietly, still not facing Ava.

"How could you do this? How could you bring her here without even telling me about it? You know this puts targets on all our backs. You know that the last thing I need is to lose someone else to Damien Darhk." 

The hurt in her voice tore Ava apart again. She wished so much that Sara would turn around, that she could speak to her face to face, but she knew that she had every right to be hurt.

"I'm sorry. I truly am, but I really had nowhere else to go. The Marshal Service is corrupted, I don't know who is working for Damien Darhk or for whoever he is working for. Five Marshals died today trying to protect Nora. This is the only place where I know she will be safe. And I couldn't tell you over the phone because there is no such thing as a secure line anymore." 

Finally, Sara turned around. There was still pain in her eyes, but now also understanding. Just as Ava had predicted, protecting people, especially protecting a little girl, would always trump anything else for Sara. 

"Okay. We leave right away."

"Right. Thank you. I will contact you when I know more." 

At that, Sara frowned, seemingly confused about what she meant.

"What? You want to go back there? Why in the world would you do that?" 

Ava let out a little dry laugh and shrugged. 

"Because that is my job? Because I need to get to the bottom of whatever this is? Because right now, I'm the only one who even knows that there is anything wrong, other than Rip, who is in prison." 

For a moment, Sara just looked at her, still frowning. When she spoke again, it was in a neutral tone, matter of fact, which sent chills down Ava's spine.

"Except that if you go back, you are as good as dead. And then we will all soon be dead too. If you're the only one who knows something is even wrong and we stay in contact, Nora will still be at risk as will my entire team. Is that what you want?" 

Ava closed her eyes. She hadn't thought about that. Well, she had thought about the risk of herself getting killed, which in a way was just an occupational hazard, as much as she hated it. But she hadn't thought about putting the Legends and Nora in danger when contacting them.

"Then I won't contact you. You can go dark, right up to when the trial starts and then we'll figure something out." 

For some reason that she couldn't quite pinpoint, Sara frowned at her. 

"Why do you want to go back so badly? Do you want to die? What is the point in trying to put Darhk on trial if you won't be alive to see it?" 

Ava couldn't help but to scoff. 

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." 

"You said it yourself, there's more at play here than we know, there's someone behind Darhk who is even more powerful. You can't do this alone." 

"And what am I supposed to do? Just give up? You know I can't do that." 

"Stay here." It was said in a haste, as if Sara needed to get it out before losing the nerve to say it at all. Ava was so surprised, she couldn't even say anything. But after her initial shock, Sara seemed to get into the flow. "I mean it. You can use our computers to find out about Darhk and whoever else we're facing here, Zari will help you with that, and we can both protect Nora."

For a long moment, neither of them said anything. They just looked at each other. Ava had no idea what to think. Stay with the Legends? Could she even do that? Did she want to do that? Actually, thinking about it, for some reason it felt like in this moment, it was the only thing she truly wanted to do. 

To stay here, with Sara, with her motley crew, where it was safe and where she maybe even could find something she hadn't dared to look for in years. A place to call home. A family. But she needed to make sure.

"You really mean that?" 

Sara took a few steps forward until she was standing right in front of her and smiled at her, a smile that made her feel warmer than she had felt in a long time.

"Yes, I do." Then she seemed to think of something and the smile grew into more of a smirk. "I mean, we will have to adjust the bathroom schedule, that's always fun, but other than that…" 

They laughed together. It felt weird, to make a joke, to laugh in such a dire situation but it also felt right. Because she was here with Sara and that meant that in this moment, she was safe. 

Both of them moved in for the kiss they were longing for at the same time.

***

After Amaya had spend some time with Nora in the galley, Zari came in to get herself some snacks and then go to inform the Captain that the ship was ready for departure. Amaya decided to go with her together with Nora, to ask where exactly the girl should be staying. 

When they got to the command center, Zari was the first one to stop dead in her tracks and then to slowly back off. Amaya was confused at first, but when she saw the two women making out against a console, she also backed off, smiling. Good for Sara. And Ava for that matter. 

Retreating into the corridor, Nora looked at them confused. 

"Are your Captain and Marshal Sharpe girlfriends?" 

Zari shrugged, grinning. 

"No idea. I think mostly they're just banging a lot." 

"Z, come on." 

Amaya frowned at her but couldn't help the small smile that still tugged at her lips. Zari shrugged again.

"It's not like they're subtle about it."

Now Nora grinned too and looked up at Zari. 

"I like you." 

Zari grinned back and offered the girl a high five, which she promptly answered.

"Hey, I like you too. Come on, let's get some more Cheetos. You can stay in my room for now. We can play some video games." 

They all went back to the galley, agreeing to give their Captain and Marshal Sharpe a little more private time.


End file.
